Get this and get it straight. Crime is a suckers road and those who travel it wind up in the gut of the prison of the grave.

The story you are about to hear is true, only the names have been changed to protect the innocent.

The Adventures of Sam Spade Detective.

The Adventures of the Saints starring Vincent Prize.

Bob Bailey in the exciting adventures of the man with the action-packed expense account.

America's fabulous freelance insurance investigator.

Yours truly, Johnny Deller. And the Hello and welcome to another midweek bonus comedy episode of Down These Mean Streets.

Today we'll hear Don Amici, Francis Langford, and Danny Thomas in

Dream Time, a wonderful comedy variety series that's best known today for its sketches starring John and Blanch Bickerson.

With a last name like that, it's no surprise that they'd be best known for their arguments. Each night Blanch was plagued

by John's unusual case of contagious insomnia. His snoring kept everyone but himself awake and she'd wake him up to argue about everything from John's job to money to Blanche's near-du-well brother

The Bickersons were created by comedy writer Philip Rapp, and the characters

first appeared in sketches on shows like the Chase and Sanborn Hour. They were revived

for Dream Time, named for Proctor and Gamble's Dream Champoo, and the Bickerson

sketches served as the closer for each week's show.

Along the way, there were songs from Francis Langford and comedy routines featuring

Danny Thomas, who was still a few years away from his sitcom starring turn in Make Room for Daddy, and who was frequently

heard in Bickerson's sketches as Blanch's brother Amos. Dream Time aired on NBC from September

1946 until May of 1947.

The Bickersons returned to radio in their own half hour series in the summer of 1951.

But for my money, John and Blanch work best in smaller doses,

and they're perfectly suited to dream time,

...